Judge David Robinson disagreed.
"Your record would suggest otherwise," he said.
More than half of Robert Lindsay Harper’s nine-page criminal record was made up of driving offences, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
In July last year, the 35-year-old was convicted of drink-driving and, because of the high level, was sentenced to intensive supervision.
He was also ordered to have an alcohol-interlock device installed in his vehicle — a measure he had neglected.
On January 12, Harper was driving north in George St with his partner and one of his five children when he was seen by police.
The court heard he approached the sweeping right-hand bend under the Pine Hill overbridge at 80kmh when he lost control.
With tyres "screeching and smoking" the vehicle slid sideways, mounting the kerb, missing a pedestrian by just two metres and smashing into a power pole.
Harper and his partner were uninjured but his son sustained a cut to his lip.
When officers arrived on the scene, the defendant denied being the driver.
Harper later explained his excessive speed, saying he was trying to overtake a motorist in front but the driver ahead had accelerated.
That did not "ring true", according to Judge Robinson.
Like others sentenced yesterday, Harper had been accepted for The Right Track programme, a course aimed at rehabilitating dangerous drivers.
But the court heard he had been kicked off when it was discovered he had been driving an unwarranted and unregistered car.
Harper’s situation dived further when he was caught driving while disqualified again, a matter that will be heard in the Alexandra District Court.
The judge was also unimpressed to hear the defendant’s reporting to his Probation officer had been "unsatisfactory".
On charges of dangerous and disqualified driving, Harper was sentenced to 12 months’ intensive supervision, 130 hours’ community work and was banned from driving for six months.
He was ordered to pay the Dunedin City Council $11,925 for the damage caused in the crash.
— Rob Kidd, Court reporter
